D.WAYNE LUCAS ON SYNTHETIC TRACKS

[exiles]

Quote(You know that hot line that they have, the one you call when you have a gambling problem, well synthetics will take care of that. You can disband the line now, synthetics will cure the gamblers, Lucas said)


equidaily.com

[Stevie Belmont]

He's right. Ruined the BC and it will be ruined again this year. It's hard to believe putting that crap down was a good idea. Down with all synthetics

[cj]

It is L-U-K-A-S.

[tundral]

May be his previous owners who he bought 2 year olds should use that number.Many aren't around with him .

[Tom]

I thought, after all my bitchin', that this was the best BC in a long time. Two great days of betting, good races, fair track - closers and speed-balls with stamina won. Grass horses had a shot on the plastic......the only thing was, quit calling it the Dirt Mile!;)

Yestersay's stake as SA - won by a turf horse....I like handicapping the stuff.

[PaceAdvantage]

It is L-U-K-A-S.It's like if I was on a basketball forum and spelled it:

Michael Giordan

:lol:

[CincyHorseplayer]

It's like if I was on a basketball forum and spelled it:

Michael Giordan

:lol:


Or Baseball;

Pete Rows:cool:

Golf

Tiger Woulds

[exiles]

Or Baseball;

Pete Rows:cool:

Golf

Tiger Woulds

Obviously you guys have too much time on your hands.

[the little guy]

Some of us just think Wayne Lukas has earned the right to have his name spelled correctly.

[vgeek]

And here I was thinking it was Wain Lukeus. Crap.

[joanied]

I would like to raed what Lukas had to say....can someone post a link to this story....please.

[WinterTriangle]

So the fact that it drew a record 29 foreign horses, where they train on similar surfaces, means the Breeders Cup was bad?

European trainers weren't bemoaning the surface.:confused:

Since it stops the foot from sinking deep into the surface, horses used to racing on dirt can't get a "hold".

Lukas and Frankel hate it, Baffert sees it as something everyone will have to get used to (he sounds realistic). Lukas is the winningest trainer in Breeders Cup, of course it would make sense that he *objects* to any changes. ;)

Zayat stables likes it, Aidan O’Brien loves it. Jockey's Bejarano, Talamo, Flores like it. Baze says there is some shoulder soreness now that the vets call a "Polytrack injury” that he's noticed from riding Woodbine.


How can we just not see this as a "learning curve" for handicappers, as well as trainers, horses and jockeys? It's not going away anytime soon? Unless long term studies prove it causes more breakdowns and injuries or something.

Jonnied, it was just an offhand comment Lukas made while discussing HOY:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2009-01-09-3556945099_x.htm

[cj's dad]

This issue reminds me of the new injuries that began cropping up when some pro football venues went to artificial surfaces years ago.

Some stadiums had grass and some had different types of synthetic fields.

Wait, I forgot, it's still that way; and unlike horse racing, the NFL is pretty unified. Please don't delude yourself into thinking this issue is going to be resolved any time soon.

[Bruddah]

this argument will be settled when the Betting $$'s continue to shrink and believe me they will. They are trying to Europeanize American racing. Basically, they will kill the sport with their experimentation. This is the true story behind what's going on, not Equine safety, not blow back, not less maintenance, yada yada yada.

They are literally killing the Goose that laid the Golden Egg. If the Horse Industry does not get certain "Blue Bloods" to get their heads out of their A$$es they will certainly kill this Sport. To Hell with Globilization. :ThmbDown:

[joanied]

Winter Triangle...
thanks for the link...any 'off hand' comment from Lukas should be considered as important...at least IMO:)
I know Bobby F hates it, and that Baffert would much rather race on dirt, but has decided to go along with the program and hope for the best.

I cannot speak to the handicapping side of synthetics, but for the horses and jocks, I still can't see it being much safer than a well maintained dirt track with all the right stuff...I can't see how forcing a horse's hoof from NOT sinking into the surface is a good thing...seems to me that puts more force/pressure on the ankle and tendons as the hoof actually stops at some point before it's picked up off the surface again during a stride. And this so called 'Polytrack injury' is serious too...shoulder injury takes a ton of time to heal, and will usually effect the legs/feet...one of my TB mares has shoulder problems and when it first became apparent, I noticed it because of the way she walked...sore in her front legs/feet....I thought she'd foundered....but xrays showed everything in her feet & legs were good...she was walking like that, as we discovered, because her shoulders hurt. And, although I treated her with topicals, equine massage and various other remedies, when they didn't seem to help, I stopped....but, after a year, she healed up, her shoulders got better and now she walks fine...do trainers want to shelf a horse for a year because of shoulder soreness...I doubt it.

So, IMO, what we did with synthetic is simply change the types of injuries we get. As Lukas said....there is no surface that's going to prevent breakdowns or sore horses...solving that problem goes much deeper...including the breeding end, standing stallions with too many 'issues' themselves.

Bottom line...there is NO cure all.

PS...Lukas likes Curlin for HoY...that does it...forget about BB or Zenyatta:)